New Traditions
by SouthernChickie
Summary: It's Jack's first Christmas without his family. He drafts his new family, SG-1, into starting some new holiday traditions.
1. Chapter 1

Jack slipped out of bed and shrugged on his favorite sweatshirt. The weather had turned, and the snow was on its way. Thanksgiving had been annoyingly warm, souring the whole holiday. Well, that was what he blamed it on. In reality, it was his first holiday without Sarah or Charlie and that had made the festive atmosphere around town hard to handle. His new family, SG-1 all seemed to be the anti-holiday types, but not enough so to be good commiseration partners. They just barely seemed to notice what was going on around them- especially Jack. They had their own ideas for how to spend their leave and none of them seemed to think about each other. Everyone just went their own way.

Carter had coyly disappeared for the long weekend claiming to visit her brother and his family, Jackson had shrugged the entire premise of the holiday off sighting the historical fallacy of the celebration and plus he'd never been a big fan of turkey anyway (Jack knew the kid well enough not to even try to use football to get him to participate), and Teal'c had no idea what the holiday was, to begin with. The jaffa had, at least, been game for attending the base Thanksgiving dinner with Jack. There was nothing more pathetic than an officer without a dinner date.

But Christmas.

Christmas was going to be a different story. Jack was determined to make the holiday happen. A proper Christmas. There would be a tree, and presents, and eggnog, and stockings, and cookies, and a fire in the fire place, and dammit a family would be there if he had to drag each and every one of them kicking and screaming to his house. And he wasn't above a little manipulation to make it happen.

He wasn't worried about it happening the exact day of, so if Carter wanted family time they'd schedule around her. Once the convenient excuses were out of the way, it would be easy to wear them down.

He had started working on Teal'c at Thanksgiving and had gotten his interest piqued.

And he could always just tell Daniel to shut up if he started in on fallacies and historical inaccuracies.

As Jack made his way into the kitchen he started breakfast on auto pilot and began planning the logistics of the holiday. He could probably talk Teal'c into the more mundane aspects: tree schlepping, getting boxes out of storage…. Or maybe he'd get new decorations this year. Make a fresh start. Besides, Sarah may have taken most of it anyway.

Coffee made, he sat down to a bowl of Lucky Charms and found some scratch paper and a pen to make his list. By the time he finished eating he was more excited than he expected to be about the coming month. Channeling his inner nerd, he mentally divided his list into sub-sections: what he could do now by himself, what he'd need Teal'c to help with, and what he'd leave for the end when he'd gotten everyone to agree to what he had decided would be a new team tradition.

He didn't quite remember his drive in, but he somehow drove through town and to the mountain without really knowing how he did it. He hadn't even turned on the radio, he realized when he pushed the button to turn it off- but turned it on instead. Once he made it down into the SGC- past NORAD, and into the top-secret base… also without really knowing what he was doing, he was ready to report a detailed schedule and time frame for the entire thing. It was time to put his plan into action.

If we wanted to start this new tradition, he needed to start by pinning down a date everyone could get together. Carter was the only one who seemed to have any sort of personal life, so he started with her. As easily predicted she was in her lab poking at some new alien device trying to get it to do something. He wasn't sure what the oblong do-hickey was supposed to do, but by the look on Carter's face, it wasn't doing it.

"Magic not working?" he asked, announcing his presence.

"Something's not working," she said not looking up. "Uh, sir," she added sparing him a glance.

It was a good thing Jack was a laid back non-uppity CO or else Carter would get in major trouble for ignoring him. Or, maybe she felt comfortable ignoring him because he was so laid back. He was the cool CO on the base. The dad that let the kids eat cake and ice cream for dinner and stay up late playing video games. It always gave him a bit of a chuckle when one of his subordinates snarked at him or sarcastically zinged him in front of other teams, the look of momentary terror on people's faces when they were sure they were about to witness someone get court marshalled was hilarious. The follow-up looks, relief and envy, were fun, too. He liked running a relaxed team. And, most importantly, SG-1 got the job done. They were the best of the best. They worked hard. And this year they would Christmas hard. He just needed to get them all on board.

"I would like to plan a team night," Jack started, beginning the process of competing for Carter's attention. "Teal'c enjoyed Thanksgiving, but I think to give him a real Tau'ri Christmas we need to get him off base. So, I volunteer my place."

"That sounds good, sir." Carter still didn't look up.

"I'd like you to be there. Nothing formal or fancy, just the normal team dinner with a Christmas tree, a gift exchange, maybe."

"Sure, I'll bring the eggnog." She turned to her computer and typed away, frowning.

"Got a date in mind?" he asked.

"A date?" she stopped what she was doing and looked at him, surprised. "I thought this was an SG-1 only thing."

"Not a date, Carter," Jack rolled his eyes. "A _date_. A day of the year on which to attend the event in questions. I am seeking your input as to when to host the shindig."

"Oh," she blushed a little and busied herself with a stack of already neatly piled loose papers. "I'm flexible. I don't have any plans, really."

"No dinner with your brother and his family?"

"They're going to his wife's family's place in Iowa."

"And not even a pity invite for Auntie Sam?"

"I got the invite, but Iowa is a bit far. And Daniel and I were talking…." She trailed off.

"You and Daniel?" Jack asked, surprised. He'd heard the rumors around the base but didn't see it. Sure, sometimes they were attached at the hip, but it was more a familial relationship. They were the two smartest people on base, the only ones capable of keeping up with each other. It was no wonder they sought each other out when they got tired of trying to bridge the intellectual chasm between them and the rest of the base.

"No, not… we weren't planning anything private," Carter assured him, rushing defending her platonic friendship. "We were just thinking of getting together to mark the day. Really, we were thinking of proposing exactly what you are, sir. We just hadn't gotten around to telling anyone."

"Ah," Jack nodded. That made sense. "Well, don't let me steal your thunder."

"You've gotten much further in planning that we have," Carter insisted. "We just came up with the idea last night."

"Last night?"

"We ran into each other in the mess," she hurried to explain. It was mean, but Jack was having fun watching her squirm at the implications. "I didn't know he was still here until I saw him. We felt bad about bailing on your Thanksgiving idea and…"

Jack put up a hand to stop her torture. He may have been a bit mopier than he intended when he got the news they weren't interested in turkey and dressing. "I'm just giving you a hard time, Carter. What you and Dannyboy do off the clock is none of my business. But I do recommend that you maybe get off base when you're off the clock. All work and all that."

"Yessir," Carter nodded.

"As a matter of fact. I insist that tonight you leave on time and go home and do whatever it is you science-y types do to relax. Go out with the girls. Read a book. Watch a movie with subtitles. Just don't let me find out you crashed here, got it?"

"Yessir."

"Good. Now I'm going to leave you to your thing-a-ma-jig so you can get all the work out of your system."

He nodded curtly, turned on his heel and left her in peace. Jack wasn't sure what it was about Carter, but sometimes, in the right light, she made him feel like a kid again. He wanted to get her to laugh, or blush, or do that thing where she grinned, bit her lip and tucked her hair behind her ear. That was the best look. He'd always been one to appreciate an attractive woman, not that the appreciation ever urged him to be unfaithful to Sarah, but now that he had the opening he wasn't sure what to do with it. It was like when he was a teenager. He knew he liked girls. He could tell when they were pretty. He could even usually tell with a good bit of accuracy when they liked him back. But he never knew what to do after that. Sarah made the first move back in his college days. He'd always liked that about her, her forwardness. Her blunt nature. He hadn't realized how rare that was until he found himself looking for it again. Jack had no idea what he would do if he ever found another woman like Sarah, he didn't want to admit it to himself, but he'd probably just tease her like a little boy with a crush. That next step was a big one. Plus, he was way too old to go down that path again.

He was still reminiscing about Sarah and trying to push Carter out of his mind- she kept popping up uninvited- when he exited the elevator. He rounded the corner and found Teal'c had beaten him to Daniel's office. Daniel was hunched over a chunk of stone on his table squinting through a magnifying glass at it while Teal'c sat calmly at the desk pen poised over a piece of paper.

"He'tak…me…shi'in," Daniel said and Teal'c wrote. "He'tak...me…kol, maybe? Rin?"

"Does it not say He'tak me shi'in. He'tak me va'li, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked in the most calmly condescending tone Jack had ever heard in his life. And if anyone deserved to be condescended to it was Jackson.

"Does it?" Daniel asked leaning in closer. "How do you know?"

"It is a well-known declaration of Apophis, an oath of power that he declared many times to his jaffa before sending them to battle."

Daniel's shoulders slumped as he straightened. "How long ago did you realize that's what this was?" he asked.

"I, in fact, recognized the speech as we began. I heard it many times as his First Prime. I once even gave the speech in his stead."

"That was hours ago, Teal'c."

"Many hours indeed."

"Why didn't you just tell me you knew it?"

"I think I can answer that one," Jack broke into the conversation. "I am pretty sure you just got pranked jaffa style. Good one, Teal'c."

Teal'c bowed his head in recognition of Jack's compliment. Daniel took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, defeated.

"Is it lunch time already, Jack?" Daniel asked, putting his glasses back on and looking at the clock.

"No, just came to see what you were up to."

"Wasting time, apparently," he grumbled.

"Be a good sport," Jack scolded him. "Other cultures have different sensibilities when it comes to humor. What's funny to us isn't necessarily funny to them. The concept of humor is universal, but the jokes are not."

Daniel blinked a few times, taken off guard. Jack shrugged his shoulders innocently. It always seemed to surprise Daniel when Jack said something that proved that he did, indeed, listen to him. Just because he wasn't interested in what the kid had to say didn't mean he didn't listen to him. All that jabbering filed itself away in the darkest, nerdiest corner of Jack's mind so he could use it against the man that jabbered it at him in the first place.

"It's only polite to accept the joke in good humor," Jack added sagely, just for good measure.

Shaking it off, Daniel put down the magnifying glass and turned off the bright desk lamp.

"Anyway," Jack continued. "I have come by to let you know that while I let you duck out on the great American tradition of Thanksgiving-"

"They have Thanksgiving in Canada, too," Daniel cut in.

"Ahem, as I was saying," he shot him a look. "I am not going to let you duck out on Christmas. And before you try to babble your way out of it, I have already spoken with Carter and know that you two had something up your sleeve that I'm not entirely sure you were planning on sharing with the class. Nevertheless, it's a done deal we are doing Christmas as a team, at my place, day of. So, don't make any plans."

"I am quite curious about the traditions of this holiday," Teal'c said. "I have seen many programs about this day on television and they are quire contradictory as to the origin and meaning of the celebrations."

"Don't!" Jack cut Daniel off before he could say anything. "It's about food and presents and eggnog. Other than that, I'm sure Dr. Jackson will be happy to talk your ear off about it."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

All day, as he breezed through his paperwork and finalized a few reports, Jack couldn't keep Christmas off his mind. He was getting excited about it. The last two years had been hard, terrible even, making him want to hide at home, in his den with a bottle of whiskey and his memories. This year, he was determined to make new and happy memories. He was so fixated on new ideas and a list of things to make sure he still had (or if he'd left them at the house with Sarah) he had to read Carter's mission report three times before he finally felt like he could approve it in good conscience. It usually took him two reads to make sure he fully understood what science had happened on the mission. She rarely got bogged down in the details, but she always included every scrap of relevant information. Jack preferred Teal'c's reports. They were always short, concise, to the point and easy to sign off on. If he was being honest he only ever really skimmed Daniel's long winded academic paper style reports. The kid added footnotes and citations of previous reports of his own and even other teams.

Outwardly, he teased Daniel, ordering him to get a life and dragging him out to the bar a couple times a week to get him out off base and out of his apartment. Inwardly, he knew exactly what Daniel was doing; he was using work as a distraction from the pain and loneliness. If he worked himself to exhaustion the dreams were less vivid, the pain less omnipresent, and he may even manage to forget for a few brief moments and let himself be happy. Jack knew what it was like to abruptly find himself alone after putting all his energy into building a family. He knew what the ache and emptiness did to you when you were alone with your thoughts.

Maybe that was why he was so loyal and protective of his pet geek- Daniel and supported Jack by happenstance, gave him the cool, detached understanding he'd needed at the time. He was the first person to tell Jack that he was allowed his feelings and however it wanted to handle it himself was fine, but under no circumstances was he allowed to take others down with him. Jack didn't remember exactly what it was Daniel had said to him that day on Abydos, but he remembered the feeling it gave him. He was forgiven his grief but held accountable for his actions. For what he had done to Sarah. He had come home from what had been a suicide mission determined to make up for what he'd done to her. To make up for shutting her out and emotionally abandoning her. But it was too late. The damage was beyond repair and the only thing he had been able to do was give her what she needed. Her space. Her life. Her happiness.

Now it was his turn to give Daniel what he needed: a friend and a little bit of family. Anything he needed to keep the kid from following him down the path of self-destruction and the darkness. He wasn't as good at words and feelings as Daniel was, after all the kid was a trained wordsmith and empathizer- he'd been studying words and their meanings for as long as Jack had been in the Air Force, but he knew the right buttons to push to get him out of his own head and make him laugh. And, contrary to popular rumor, he was capable of being quiet and listening when the situation called for it.

Jack just wished he had learned how to do that when it really counted. For Sarah. If he had learned how to listen to Charlie and communication better with him instead of losing his temper…

Jack shook his head and closed the file in front of him. He checked his watch, he'd been doing paperwork in the mess for three and a half hours. His coffee was cold, his cereal was hot, and it was basically time for lunch. He stood up, tossed his tray and took his files. SG-1 would probably start wandering in and he wasn't in the mood to pretend to be excited and happy.

With no missions scheduled for the week and no artifacts to poke and prod Jack was a bit at loose ends. He had work to do, sure, but personnel reviews and triplicate forms didn't seem like a good use of his time. He headed to the gym to take a few swings at the old sandbag and see where that got him. Clear his head a little. And if that didn't work, he'd make himself scarce and hide out in the officer's club. He wasn't actively shirking his duty- he was just taking an interpersonal day. Putting in some facetime. Pretending to care what the other SG teams were up to. And probably fending off offers for trades for Carter and Jackson. Everyone had thought he was crazy at first. Hammond let him have the pick of the litter for his team and he had insisted on a pilot/scientist, a civilian, and an alien. Now the other team leaders kept trying to copy his winning formula drafting geologists and engineers to round out their numbers, but no one could quite do it. Bottled beer was good and did the trick, but you'd never find one that tasted like the real deal straight from the tap in a chilled glass. Give him three identical beers in identical glasses and he could tell you which came from a bottle, which came from a can, and which was on tap. SG-1 was the perfect pull from a tap and everything else was a perfectly good but not quite the same substitution.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

After a long day of seeing and being seen and even a few hours of actual work, Jack made it home with the spring back in his step. He had refined his list over the course of the day and was ready to really get rolling on this thing. He gobbled down some cold Chinese takeout leftovers for dinner and went down into the basement to take inventory of what he had. He was pretty sure he hadn't bought any decorations since moving out of the house, but he couldn't properly remember if he'd brought any with him. Moving out of the house had happened so quickly and suddenly that what he did and didn't pack up wasn't very concrete in his memory.

Jack had no intention of digging through every box in the basement, but he wanted to at least be able to say he looked before he went on a shopping spree. The first few boxes were basically junk he wasn't sure why he had kept, but at the same time, he wasn't really interested in getting rid of it now, either. But in the fifth box, right on top was something he didn't remember taking at all. Something that hit him in the gut with a force much stronger than anything he'd been hit with in years.

Holding it gently in his hands, he sat down on the floor and cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack didn't know how long he sat there, lost in his thoughts. He didn't hear anyone come in until Daniel was suddenly in the basement, too. So much for all that special ops training.

"Jack? You okay?" Daniel was standing at the bottom of the stairs hovering a safe distance away- hesitating to get any closer.

"Daniel…" Jack hastily wiped at his face but didn't turn around. "What do you want?"

"Um… nothing. I was just…. I can go."

"No, it's fine. I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"I kept looking for you at the SGC and I couldn't find you," he closed the gap between them. "I just wanted to make sure we were okay."

Jack wiped his face again and cleared his throat, but still didn't turn aroun. "Why wouldn't we be? What did you do?"

"Sam and I were planning on inviting everyone. We just hadn't gotten to the stage of planning where we actually invited people."

"Oh, geeze, that thing," Jack rolled his eyes. Leave it to Daniel to take a good-natured ribbing too seriously. "I was joking. I know you and Carter hang out. It's fine. I dare say it's good for you two. Just so long as you're not up to anything I should worry about, have it, I say."

Jack didn't have to turn around to see the confused frown on Daniel's face. "What would we do that you have to worry about?"

"The fact that you don't know tells me I don't have to," Jack said, his good humor almost coming back.

"What are you talking about?" he pressed the subject.

Jack sighed, irritated out of his funk. Maybe Daniel knew what buttons to push, too. "You two are hanging out and not hooking up, right?"

Horrified, Daniel sputtered at the thought.

"My point exactly." Jack hoisted himself off the floor. "Is that all you wanted?"

"Um, yeah. That's it." Now seeing his friend face to face Daniel could see the emotion etched in the lines around the older man's eyes. "You sure you're okay?" he asked carefully. "You look…." He left his observation hanging.

Jack held up what he had found in the box. "Charlie's stocking. I didn't know I had it," he explained.

"Oh…"

"It's fine. I'm fine. I just got surprised, is all. There's nothing to worry about."

"I'm sorry," Daniel said softly. "That probably not the best surprise to get this time of year."

Jack shrugged and looked at the red fluffy stocking in his hand. "You want a drink?" he asked.

"Sure."

They trooped back upstairs to the kitchen. Daniel helped himself to a couple slices of pizza from the fridge before joining Jack on the patio. They had done this many times before. When Daniel had first been brought back from Abydos with nowhere to go and no one to call, Jack had brought him home with him. The first week had been rough on the young man and Jack had plied him with alcohol a few too many nights than he probably should have, but it worked. Now, it seemed Daniel was willing to return the favor. Jack wasn't ready for that just yet.

But the company was nice.

"So, any great Jackson family traditions we should include?" Jack asked before Daniel could try to start the conversation in a different direction.

"Not really. My parents weren't religious, so we didn't really do holidays."

"I know you're weird, but don't tell me you're _I've never had a Christmas even though I'm an Earthling_ weird."

"There's a lot of people on Earth that don't celebrate Christmas, Jack," Daniel, ever the anthropologist, pointed out. "Most religions don't…" he trailed off as Jack stared at him over his beer bottle with that familiar _I know, it was just a joke,_ look. He gathered his thoughts and started again. "I've had Christmas before when I was a kid. Just not until after my parents died. My foster parents always made a big deal out of it."

"Okay, so foster traditions, then. What did you do growing up?"

Daniel chewed his pizza crust thoughtfully. "We didn't have a fire place, so Michelle put our stockings in our chair at the table. We'd go into the kitchen for breakfast and get to open our stockings first."

Jack nodded, prodding him to continue. Give him enough room and the kid could prattle on about any topic for hours. Some topics required a bit more of a push than others. And, of course, when Jack wanted him to prattle, Jackson managed to be consise for a change. "What else?"

"Um… after breakfast we went to church. And that always took forever- all morning and most of the afternoon, too. But we got to open our presets after church and then we'd go out and play with the other kids until Michelle called us up for dinner," he smiled faintly. "She made the best veal piccata I've ever had in my life. She only made it for Christmas."

"Veal? Fancy."

"Veal and pasta and garlic rolls all from scratch. It was amaizing."

"I take it the fosters were Italian?"

Daniel gave him a wry grin. "Isn't everyone in New York?"

Jack shrugged. "That explains Christmas church taking all day."

"Full mass, nativity play, school Christmas concert…"

"Did you go to Sunday school?" Jack asked. Daniel the adult was an obnoxiously pragmatic agnostic. It was hard to picture him in nativity plays with a dish towel on his head pretending to be a shepherd and singing in Christmas pageants. Charlie had been put to work as a shepherd in a dishtowel and Jack's bathrobe one year. Another year he had been a donkey in a grey sweatsuit and felt donkey ears Sarah had made him. Jack wasn't much of a religious guy, but kids in a Christmas pagent always made him smile.

"I went to a Catholic School, Jack. I went to mass six days a week for eight years."

"That… is a lot of praying."

"It's a lot of having to sit still for a nine-year-old."

"Charlie hated church, too," Jack found himself saying. "Loved Sunday school, hated church."

Daniel saw his opening. "Gee, can't imagine your kid having trouble sitting still and being, I dunno, quiet."

Jack chuckled, he had known it the second it slipped out of his mouth that Daniel would push the topic. At least he was doing it with a healthy dose of sarcasm. Jack could understand sarcasm and cynicism. It was emotions he had a hard time with.

"Poor Sarah," Jack said. "We used to drive her crazy."

"I can imagine. I only have to deal with you and that's usually too much. The woman must be a saint."

"She deserves way better than me, that's for sure."

"Don't we all."

Jack snorted and took another pull at his beer, putting his feet up on the railing of the patio, looking out over the pond. After a few minutes of companionable silence, Daniel spoke up.

"What sort of traditions did you guys have?"

"Well…"

"And don't say fishing. We are not fishing for Christmas."

"I wasn't going to say fishing."

"Good."

"Christmas is ice fishing and it's way too warm for that to happen down here."

"Ice fishing?"

"I grew up in rural Minnesota. There wasn't a whole lot to do." Jack shrugged. "Besides, it was just me and Pop there was no need for huge meals and the nearest kid lived eight miles away. I couldn't just go outside and find other kids playing in the street."

"It was just you and your dad?"

"Grandfather," Jack corrected.

"That explains why you're such a crochety old man," Daniel teased him. Jack was full of surprises today. He'd divulged more personal information in the thirty minutes they'd been outside than he had in all the time they'd been working together, or the months they lived together. "You were trained from a young age to sit around being grumpy all day."

"Someone has to keep the young pups in line."

"So, other than ice fishing, which sounds like torture, what are the O'Neill traditions? I feel it's my moral obligation to save the team from your dumb ideas."

Jack thought about it. Charlie had been so young that most of their traditions revolved around playing Santa and building bicycles at three o'clock in the morning in a freezing cold garage.

"One year," he started, smiling at the memory. "When Charlie was five, I went up into the attic above his room with a string of sleigh bells. I started ringing the bells and stomping around did the whole Ho-Ho-Ho thing… Sarah went to wake up Charlie to tell him Santa was there. The plan was to wake him up let him listen for Santa to leave and then I'd sneak back into the house and then he'd get to see all his presents under the tree like Santa had just left them. We made boot prints from the fire place to the tree and back, ate the cookies, the whole thing." Jack started chuckling at how they had gone all out for the first Christmas Charlie might remember. The elaborate lengths they went to. "Damn kid slept through the entire thing. Couldn't get him to wake up for the life of us."

Daniel smiled. "But he still saw it in the morning, right? When he woke up?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. He screamed and ran in circles, jumped up and down lost his little mind when he saw those boot prints. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a dog from messing up soot-boot prints all night? All she wanted to do was roll in them."

"I didn't know you had a dog."

"Sarah has her. Her name is Puck."

"Okay," Daniel steered the topic back. "short of tricking Teal'c into thinking Santa Claus is real…"

"We did the usual stuff: stockings and presents."

"Did you have a special meal?"

"Lamb stew. I'd start making it as soon as we were done with presents. Charlie helped Sarah make bread. Took all day and was worth every second of it."

"That's a tradition I can get behind."

"I'm kind of liking the veal idea."

"I have no idea how to make it. I've looked up recipes and tried everything I can find. I can't make it right."

"Liar."

"Maybe."

Jack sighed, rolled his eyes, and finished his beer. "We should do stockings. And presents."

"Can we, uh, do a price limit or Secret Santa?" Daniel asked tentatively.

Jack winced and tried to cover up his reaction. "Yeah, sure. We'll hammer out the details. Another beer?"

"Sure."

Jack went back into the house, mentally kicking himself. It wasn't common knowledge, hell, Jack was the only other person who knew, but Daniel was barely keeping himself afloat in a stormy sea of debt. Before he signed on with Project Giza and later the SGC, he had been evicted, cleaned out his savings, maxed out his credit cards, and was dodging creditors. For the few months Daniel lived with Jack after coming back to Earth, the creditors had found him at Jack's house and were calling day and night. When the calls started, that was when Daniel had confessed everything.

On the downlow, Jack helped the kid out- refusing to accept rent or grocery money, letting him borrow the truck, ultimately co-signing for his apartment. Every now and again Daniel tried to pay him back, sneaking bar tabs and leaving cash on the counter when Jack wasn't looking, but he owed creditors enough he was still underwater just covering his bills and minimum payments.

Jack went back on the porch with beers in hand.

"I think Secret Santa would be easier for Teal'c," Jack reasoned. "I don't know if jaffa have present giving holidays. Doesn't really seem their style. What with the slavery and brainwashing and all."

"Thanks, Jack," Daniel said quietly.

"Not your fault the rest of the world was too dumb to know you were right," Jack brushed it off.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The plan was cemented over the course of the next couple of weeks. Quick discussions in Daniel's lab, brain storming over a campfire off world while they ate dinner, drinks at their usual bar when they got home. Menus were planned, and responsibilities divvied up amongst the group. Jack had even managed to convince everyone, with some pointed enthusiasm from Daniel, to make it a two-day event. Teal'c's first Christmas would be a proper one with all the trimmings and trappings that came with it.

Based off Jack's excitement, Teal'c had gotten curious and was spending an abnormal amount of time in Daniel's lab using his computer researching what it was that had gotten the stoic commander acting like a schoolboy, to use Carter's term. Jack took him to the video store and rented him a pile of tapes insisting that they were practically required watching for Earth children in the winter season.

Slowly the entire SGC descended into a serene and festive mood. Officers hummed in the halls, people anxiously awaited their leave while others begrudgingly accepted that they would be on duty while their friends drank eggnog and ate pumpkin pie.

Even the weather had cooperated with gusto. On December 22, a light snow started dusting the city, sticking just enough to turn lawns and roofs white without icing over the roads and causing commotion and traffic accidents. By the time Christmas school holidays officially hit the children of Colorado Springs had taken it upon themselves to use their tiny hands and unbridled creativity to craft snowmen wherever space was available.

Even Jack's lawn had been snowman bombed while he was at work. He came home to find a group of snowmen crafted by the neighbor kids in tribute to the comically grumpy old Colonel Jack that yelled at them to get off his lawn after making sure to buy fundraising chocolates and cookies from any kid that came to his door and lemonade from any kid that set up a stand.

On Christmas Eve Jack picked Teal'c up from the SGC and took the jaffa on his first trip to pick out a Christmas Tree. They drove off road, carefully picking through the snow on government land to find a tree to chop down.

"Is this not illegal, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked as he followed Jack through the shin-high snow on the mountian.

Jack kept his eyes sweeping the landscape for the perfect tree. "Twelve feet that way, maybe" he pointed to his right. "But right here is fuzzy grey area land. No one really owns it so it's up for grabs. I think. Sorta." He dropped the axe from his shoulder and glanced around. "Just the same we should keep this between us. Oh! Look at this one!" He spotted a Scotch Pine. "Nice lines, good color, smells…." He inhaled deeply. "Like those little tree air fresheners."

"It is indeed an appealing option." Teal'c agreed. "As were the previous four trees you stopped to examine."

"Yes, but this one…" Jack shouldered his axe and walked around the tree several times, checking for flaws. "I think this is the one."

"I am in agreement, O'Neill."

"Let's chop this beauty down." Jack prepped and swung the axe. He hit the tree trunk and the impact reverberated up his arms, across his shoulders, and down his back. "How about it, big guy?" he shook it off and offered the axe to Teal'c. "Want to cut down your very own Christmas tree?"

He nodded and accepted the tool.

"Just, just aim for that target I left 'ya."

In two blows he felled the tree.

Jack nodded appreciatively, too impressed to be embarrassed. "Timber."

Teal'c bowed his head in acceptance of the praise. "Timber, indeed, O'Neill."


	3. Chapter 3

"Holy Hannah, it smells amazing," Carter said the second she walked into the house. She set her overnight bag down by the door. She heard the guys talking in the other room and followed their voices, carrying the cooler with her promised contribution to their holiday weekend.

Teal'c and Daniel were camped out at the kitchen table while Jack put the finishing touches on his stew at the stove. He had a Santa hat perched at a jaunty angle on his head.

"Turns out Jack's been holding out on us," Daniel said getting up to pour Carter a glass of wine without her even needing to ask. "As long as we don't let him near a grill, he can actually cook."

"So far it just smells, good," Jack tried to shrug it off, he turned around and Carter could see the giant Christmas tree knit across the front of his red sweater. He certainly had gotten into the spirit of things. "There's no telling how this thing will actually taste."

The truth was, he had spent hours at the grocery store nitpicking the produce and had gone to an actual butcher shop for the lamb. All month he found himself getting more and more excited about the team coming for the holiday. He'd been obsessing over the details: where to put the tree, how many feet of lights was it going to take to perfectly light- but not over light- the tree, would that be enough light to work in the living room or would that over power the fireplace…. He knew he was being crazy and over thinking every detail, but he was enjoying it. Nights could be long and lonely and planning the perfect Christmas was the just the distraction he needed.

"Have you seen the tree?" Daniel asked Carter almost quietly. "It's huge. It's going to take us all night just to get lights on it."

"It'll take longer if you keep drinking at that pace," Jack shot at him, nodding at the glass of wine in the younger man's hand.

"Speaking of drinking…" Carter held up the soft sided cooler she was carrying. "Can I steel some space in the fridge?"

Jack gestured her to go ahead as he turned back to the stew, checking the consistency.

"One jar has bourbon in it and one jar is alcohol free," she explained. "I also have chocolate walnut cookies and ice cream."

"Perfect. Teal'c got us donuts for the morning; Daniel brought everything for his pasta and garlic rolls; I have the salmon you requested. I hope everyone brought their stretchy pants." Jack nodded, satisfied that the team was keeping up their end of the holiday.

Carter's family traditionally had salmon for Christmas and Daniel stood firm that he did not know how to make the veal dish, so they had decided on salmon and pasta for dinner Christmas day. Christmas Eve was the O'Neill family stew, so they could eat and decorate the house.

"Okay, kiddos." Jack clapped his hands together and stepped away from the stove. "Dinner in an hour. That gives us time to get this party started."

"What's first?" Carter asked.

"I suppose we should hang the stockings by the chimney with care," Jack decided after careful consideration.

"I have read of this tradition," Teal'c said. "The children of your planet hang sacks of the approximate shape of foot wear from the fireplace in the hopes that a fictional elf will deem them worthy of small gifts and candy."

"The very same," Jack told him. "Come with me, big guy. You get to go first."

Teal'c stood and followed Jack out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Carter looked at Daniel and shook her head. "The colonel is really getting into this."

Daniel sighed and bit his lip before whispering. "He misses Charlie. Don't tell him I said anything. Just… play along."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she hissed at him, slapping his shoulder. "I would have done more."

"I had to get him drinking just to get him to talk about it," he said pointedly. "And even then, I barely got it out of him, so not a word."

"Hey! I have four stockings and two people…. Do you two geniuses see the problem with those numbers?" Jack yelled at them.

"Coming!" Daniel announced as he pushed Carter out of the room ahead of him.

"Were you sneaking stew again?" Jack accused him as they came into the living room.

"What? No." Daniel had appointed himself official taste tester earlier in the afternoon when he had shown up unannounced and early. He'd been sneaking vegetables and sampling the Rice Crispy Treats all day like a thieving shadow with a sweet tooth.

Jack narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You go last."

Daniel shrugged, accepting his punishment with dignity. He sat down on the couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

"Ahem. Nice boots, Dannyboy."

Daniel put his feet down, kicked off his boots, and put his feet back up. Jack sighed and ignored him.

"Okay, T- pick your stocking."

In a box near the back-door Jack had set aside the tree lights, ornaments, and on top were four stockings. They were all classic red with fuzzy white tops. Each had a different design, luckily there were four to pick from at the store.

Teal'c leaned down and examined his options, deciding on the one with a felt elf on the front and real bells sewn to the tips of his elf shoes. He gave the stocking a shake and it jingled. A faint appreciate smile crossed his lips. The tau'ri really were an interesting people.

"Good choice! Carter, you next."

Carter sipped at her wine before giving her glass to Daniel to hold. She looked at the options, feeling a bit ridiculous. She hadn't hung a stocking since she was a little girl who still believed in Santa. Since she didn't really care, she took the one on top with a candy cane embroidered on it.

Jack nodded his approval at her choice. "I take Santa which means Daniel, you get the snowman."

"I don't want the snowman," Daniel sputtered.

"Too late." Jack teased him. "Everyone grab a hook," he instructed the team and they all gathered at the fire place where Jack had already installed four small hooks under the mantle. Following his lead, everyone hung up their stockings before stepping back to admire their simple work. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," Jack smiled appreciatively. "Oh! Music."

He fairly danced to the stereo, hitting the power button and overly cheery pop Christmas music started to play. Cater and Daniel shared a look, wondering how far they should let this go. If Jack noticed their bemused trepidation, he didn't let on. He had already moved on to the next tradition: tree decorating. Teal'c was getting in on the spirit of things and easily kept Jack talking as they wrapped strings of lights around the giant tree taking up an easy fourth of the living room. The furniture and been rearranged to accommodate the addition.

Carter and Daniel busied themselves making sure the Christmas ornaments had hooks so as Jack and Teal'c moved forward with the decorating they didn't get thrown off their groove. Jack had purchased bobbles, ice cycles, candy canes and ribbons to decorate the tree. About an hour into decorating something clicked in Carter first, then Daniel. It could have been the music, Jack's contagious cheer, Teal'c's genuine interest in and enjoyment of the occasion, or even the wine, but by the time the tree was ready for the finishing touch everyone was fully participating, nodding along with the music anxious to turn on the tree lights.

"Usually this tradition goes to the youngest," Jack said holding the oversized glass star. "But I think the honor should go to our first timer, even if he is the oldest." The humans all readily agreed and Teal'c topped their masterpiece.

With the go-ahead from Jack, Carter plugged the lights in just as Jack turned off the overhead lights. The room lit up with a soft glow from top to bottom.

SG-1 stepped back, grinning in appreciation of their work.

"Well done, kids," Jack said. "That is one fine looking tree."

"I have to admit Colonel, this is more fun than I was expecting."

"I haven't decorated a tree since I was little kid," Daniel added to Carter's approval. "I forgot how fun it could be."

The overly large tree was lit from top to bottom with perfectly spaced white lights to match the lights in the glass star at the top. Jack had bought lights, shatter proof balls of every color, and tinsel to decorate the first annual SG-1 Christmas Tree.

"One more thing and then she'll be perfect." Jack disappeared around the corner and reappeared cradling something in his left arm. "Old O'Neill tradition. New year, new ornaments for everyone." He handed Teal'c a small globe, Daniel a sphynx, Carter a computer, and then showed off his fishing pole and reel.

"Where did you even get this?" Daniel was dumbfounded at his small plastic ornament.

"If you know where to look, you can find anything," Jack answered cryptically. "Everyone pick your spot and then she'll be perfect."

Everyone, having suddenly developed a critical eye, took their time placing their special ornament _just so_ on the tree, even going so far as to try multiple placements and rearrange a bit of what was already there. Jack stepped back and watched his team and smiled. It was nice to see them all getting into the spirit. One by one, the team stepped back and joined him, surveying their work and nodding approvingly.

"This is a very peculiar tradition," Teal'c said. "But I do find it most enjoyable to participate. Thank you for inviting me into your winter ritual."

"Anytime, buddy." Jack clapped his hand on the jaffa's shoulder. "Stick with us and there will be all kinds of rituals to participate in."

Daniel cleared his throat. "Most of them involve eating."

"Yes, dinner is served. Danny, go get the fireplace going. Everyone else: it's chow time."

"Why do I have to keep being last?" Daniel demanded.

"You know why."

"No. I don't."

Carter rolled her eyes. "I'll help."

As she and Daniel made quick work of building the fire she nudged him. "Laying it on a little thick, aren't you?"

"He's just trying to get a rise out of me, so I'm giving it to him. Consider it a Christmas gift."

"You're having a bit too much fun whining."

Daniel shrugged innocently. "It's not hurting anyone."

She rolled her eyes. "Boys."

With the fire going and the tree lit, the team regathered in the living room with dinner. They ate stew and freshly baked bread, enjoying the fruits of their labor. After dinner, and a quick clean up, they settled in the living room with glasses of chilled eggnog for another Christmas Tradition: Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.

"These are sadder than I remember," Sam commented, frowning.

"That may be the eggnog talking," Jack said.

"I don't know, Jack. Those other reindeer are being really mean to Rudolf," Daniel agreed with Carter. "Especially his dad."

"It's a kids' movie, for crying out loud."

"The way the youngling with the birth defect is treated is distressing, O'Neill," Teal'c took a side in the discussion.

"Those two are drunk," Jack pointed an accusing finger at Carter and Daniel. "What's your excuse?"

"He has a heart," Carter mumbled.

"It's a kids' movie," Jack repeated emphatically.

"You're the one who wanted to watch it, sir."

"My favorite show is a cartoon, Carter," he countered. "I'm not exactly into highbrow entertainment."

"You listen to opera," Daniel pointed out.

"That's not highbrow."

"It's the definition of highbrow."

"You're the definition of highbrow," Jack shot back.

"What?" Daniel frowned.

"Just watch the movie."

When the credits started to roll on the last movie, Carter was yawning, and Daniel had nodded off on the couch. Jack was getting pretty drowsy himself. It had been a long day. Getting up early to get things ready for the team's arrival and cooking and decorating, not to mention all the work that he'd put in before today even started. He'd devoted several weeks to get ready for this weekend and now that it was finally here the adrenaline was starting to wear off. Now it was just a matter of executing his plan and having a perfect holiday. So far, so good. He'd nudged Carter and Daniel into the Christmas spirit and slowly their skeptical indulgence seemed to transform into the genuine enjoyment of the proceedings- over analyzation of a children's Christmas movie notwithstanding.

"Time to bed down?" Jack asked the room as a whole.

Carter stretched and put her empty eggnog glass down. "I'm ready."

"He beat us to it," Jack rolled his eyes at Daniel.

"Guess this means no fight over the guest room," Carter shrugged. "Dibs."

"It's all yours, Carter."

"Is there any cleaning up that needs to be done?"

"Teal'c and I can handle putting a few dishes in the dishwasher. You get first dibs on the bathroom, too."

"Are you sure?"

"I insist."

"I will not fight you on it, sir."

Alone in the kitchen with his first-time conspirator, Jack whispered the plan for the night.

"Will we not wake Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c worried. If Daniel, (who had woken up, realized he was alone in the living room, and stretched out on the couch and gone back to sleep), was spending the night on said couch he would be in the middle of their scheme. The chances of him finding them in the middle of their scheme were significant. After all, the couch he was passed out on was in the middle of the room they were planning on being in.

"He's been drinking since four o'clock. The only thing that's going to wake him up is his bladder," Jack assured him. "But just to be safe, let's give it an hour."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

As predicted, Daniel was snoring softly on the couch under a blanket he'd acquired at some point when Jack came back into the living room with everything needed to pull off their Christmas morning surprise. It was a tradition Sarah had started when Charlie was three, young enough to be enamored by the magic of it all, but old enough to remember what the living room looked like when he'd gone to sleep the night before. In the O'Neill house, Santa helped decorate.

While SG-1 had put up stockings and a tree, Santa was going to finish the job. Jack and Teal'c draped garland and hung wreaths, tied bows around the lamps and added tinsel to the tree. Teal'c, it turned out, had a real eye for decorating.

The final piece was stuffing the stockings and eating the cookies.

"And the children of Earth believe a benevolent man brings them presents in exchange for cookies?" Teal'c mulled it over as they ate cookies in the kitchen- with one half eaten to be left on the plate as if Santa hadn't had time to finish.

"Yup. It works for about eight or nine years and then they start to figure it out," Jack shrugged. "It's a glorious few years, though. The threat of the naughty list usually keeps them in line starting in October."

"And the remaining time of the year?"

"No TV."

Teal'c nodded, taking in the information. "On Chulak, it is expected of children to obey the rules as set by their parents without question. Those who disobey are punished in a severity equivalent to the infraction. Well behaved children are not rewarded for merely doing what is required of them."

"You know what they say," Jack shrugged.

"I do not know what is said, O'Neill."

"Spoil the child, spare the…punishment."

"Would that not encourage children to misbehave and therefore become undisciplined?"

"That's what the no TV part is for."

"And this plan of action is successful?"

"Not at all," Jack admitted. "I mean, look at me. We all become a smart-alec pain in the neck."

"Yet you continue this pattern with your children after the method has been proven unsuccessful."

"We're a stubborn lot. Plus, this way you get presents."


	4. Chapter 4

"What in the world…" Carter stopped short as she shuffled into the living room the next morning.

It was like Christmas had stopped by for a quick party while she slept.

"Daniel," she nudged him.

He snorted and startled awake. Before he could complain about the rude awakening, he caught sight of the room.

"What the…"

"Merry Christmas!" Jack announced coming out of the kitchen. He was wearing a Santa had and a sweater with a snowman knit on the front. Teal'c was behind him, his usual stoic look a stark contrast to Jack's overbearing cheeriness. Apparently, they had been lying in wait for the others to rouse. They had trays with doughnuts and coffee for everyone.

"What happened?" Daniel asked, still bewildered as to how he had gone to sleep in one room and woken up in another without leaving the couch or the room.

"Christmas magic, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered.

Daniel frowned. "I didn't help with this at any point, did I?"

"You were passed out cold the entire time," Jack assured him. "You were not decorating in your sleep."

"Oh. Good." Satisfied with the slightly cryptic explanation he took a cup of coffee off the tray and shifted on the couch, making room for Carter to sit with him.

"Another O'Neill family surprise?" Carter asked.

"Santa," Jack insisted.

"Is Santa part of the O'Neill family?" she pressed, biting into a bearclaw.

"I think Claus is a Scandinavian name."

"It's Bavarian," Daniel corrected automatically. Everyone paused and looked at him. "The surname Claus is Bavarian," he explained.

"Are you trying to ruin Christmas?" Jack accused him.

"What?"

"It's magic. That's it. Magic."

"I'm just-"

"Magic."

"You said that-"

"Magic."

"But-"

"Ma. Gic," Jack insisted.

Daniel gave up and grabbed a doughnut. "Bavarian," he mumbled.

"Anyway," Carter broke into the argument over nothing. "What's the plan for today?"

"Today. We have Christmas. We have a leisurely breakfast. We open our stockings…"

"Stockings?" Daniel asked.

"Magic," Teal'c answered. This time Daniel didn't argue.

"Then presents. Then we play with our presents. Then we have dinner."

"How long will the pasta take?" Carter asked Daniel.

"The long part is the garlic rolls. The pasta is less that twenty minutes start to finish."

She nodded. "I'll put on the fish when you start the pasta, then."

"Okay, now that the boring stuff is out of the way… let Christmas begin!" Jack clapped his hands and sat in his armchair with coffee and doughnuts- but not until the overly cheerful Christmas music was turned back on. "So, Carter," Jack started a conversation when no one else seemed awake enough for the task. "We already know Daniel's Christmas was church-a-palooza, what did the Carter's do?"

"We didn't have a lot of traditions," she admitted. "We moved around so much we didn't keep anything that was necessary. So, we didn't have a bunch of ornaments for our tree. We bought a fresh one every year and put a bow on top. My mom did hide a pickle in it every year," she remembered. "Whoever found the pickle first got five dollars."

"A pickle? As in… pickles?" Jack asked.

Carter shrugged. "It's a tradition from her family."

"It's Bavarian," Daniel piped up. "Well, a Bavarian may have invented it. That's the legend." Everyone stared blankly at him. "A guy in a POW camp was starving to death and some guard took pity on him and gave him a pickle one year around Christmas…" he tried to see if anyone else had heard the story. "And he was so grateful that after he was liberated every year for Christmas he remembered the guard's generosity and…." He trailed off when everyone seemed more confused the more he tried to explain.

Jack looked at him, incredulously. "Did Bavaria invent Christmas?"

"It's just a story. It's not my fault the guy in the story is Bavarian," he mumbled.

"Anyway," Carter broke into the conversation before they could start arguing again. "We had the pickle, and we did stockings and presents. That was pretty much it. Sometimes we'd have lunch in the chow hall with the airmen who didn't get to go home. My dad liked to spend time with the men around the holidays. Thanksgiving we did everything exclusively in the chow hall with the guys."

Jack nodded. He'd done the same thing before Charlie came around. He and Sarah had done base Thanksgivings and Christmases to save money on food. Once Charlie came around, though, Jack had insisted on family only holidays. He was gone too much as it was with his job. He didn't want to make Charlie feel like he was secondary to Jack's career. When he was home, no matter where they were living, Charlie was the priority. In the long run, he wondered if he's efforts really did anything. If the argument he'd had with Charlie that day had been a one-off issue that sparked a fit of childish rebellion, or if it had been the final straw in something bigger, something more- a deep seeded feeling of rejection or a cry for attention.

Not allowing himself to go down that road today- not today, he refocused on the conversation.

"The entire Nancy Drew collection," Carter was saying. "It must have been thirty books. I loved it. I read every single one of them. I must have read nothing but Nancy Drew for an entire year."

"I was a Hardy Boys fan, myself," Jack jumped back in.

"I liked Encyclopedia Brown the most," Daniel added.

"Do children often assist the authorities in murder investigations?" Teal'c asked. Jack realized that while he wasn't listening, Carter or Daniel must have explained the premise of Nancy Drew.

"Only in books and movies," Carter said. "In real life, it would create all kinds of legal questions."

"The best present I ever got was probably…" Daniel stopped to think, and Jack realized the entire conversation had changed when he wasn't listening. "My bike," he decided. "I loved that thing. I rode all over the borough. My foster father helped me attach a crate to the back, so I could carry things I found around the city home. I brought home a lot of rocks…"

They turned to Jack. "My first pair of hockey skates," Jack answered easily. "Pop taught me how to skate on the pond. Got my first hockey stick that year, too."

"I thought for sure you were going to say fishing pole," Daniel admitted.

"I did, too," Carter agreed.

"I, too, felt the answer was most probable."

"I have more interests than just fishing," Jack insisted.

No one responded, sarcastically or otherwise, they just stared for a few moments, then moved on to the next conversation. Eventually, they got around to opening their stockings, which no one had expected to hang, much less open.

Jack had fun at the dollar store picking out little joke gifts for everyone.

Carter got a green plastic pocket telescope, a constellation wheel and a toy car version of her classic Volvo.

Daniel got a word puzzle book, a set of pens, and a little cloth to clean his glasses with.

Teal'c got a stress ball in the shape of the Earth, a Wooly Willy magnetic board, and a baby's My First Christmas ornament.

Everyone got a candy cane.

Dubious at first, and mildly amused at their own stocking stuffers, Carter and Daniel were giggling as they went through Teal'c's haul.

"I used to have one of these!" Daniel exclaimed taking the Wooly Willy board from Teal'c. "I loved it." He picked up the attached magnetic pen and showed Teal'c how to use the pen to move the metal shavings around to give the man on the board a beard or goofy hair style.

Teal'c took the toy back and tried it himself. "Amusing," he agreed.

"Let's do Secret Santa," Carter suggested, getting into the spirit.

Several weeks ago, at lunch, they had drawn names from a cup to find out who bought whom Christmas presents. They even managed to keep their secrets- no one went to others for advice or to try to guess what they were getting. It helped that two participants were only half-heartedly in the game, one took the rules very seriously, and the other gleefully refused to discuss his plans with anyone. But now that it was time Carter and Daniel found themselves getting into the spirit of things, Teal'c was still baffled and amused at these strange Earth traditions and Jack was having fun watching everyone enjoy themselves.

"Who goes first?" Daniel asked.

"We draw numbers," Jack said, grabbing Daniel's word puzzle book and ripping out a page, ignoring Daniel's indignant protest. He wrote out the numbers, tore the paper and crumpled them into little balls. "Teal'c," he gave the guest of honor first pick.

"Three," Teal'c announced.

"One," Carter smiled.

Daniel uncrumpled his number. "Two."

"Guess that makes me…. Four," Jack revealed.

"So, do I give first or do I get mine first?" Carter asked.

"You get to open yours."

Carter went to the tree but paused. No one had written names on their gifts to keep the mystery. Teal'c stepped forward and retrieved a small gift bag from under the tree.

"I retrieved your name from the cup, Captain Carter," he said handing her the bag.

"Thank you, Teal'c," she smiled. Carefully, she removed the tissue paper and found a velvet box in the bottom of the bag. "Teal'c…" Unless the jaffa had spontaneously grown a sense of humor, she already knew where this was going.

Sure enough inside the box was a simple, elegant, diamond pendant necklace.

"Oh, my god," Daniel breathed as Carter took the necklace out.

"Um…" Carter hedged. There was no way she could accept this.

"I have observed that it is the custom on this holiday to give close female acquaintances gifts of gold and diamonds in order to convey the significance of their importance in your life."

"That's one way to put it," Jack mumbled.

"Teal'c I can't…" Cater started.

"Does this necklace not please you?" Teal'c asked.

"No, it's gorgeous. It's just…"

"Do you feel it does not accurately represent your value on this team? Should I have selected a larger diamond?"

Carter looked to Daniel for help, but he uselessly shrugged at her, unsure of how to handle it himself. She looked at Jack who answered her silent plea for help.

"You did great, big guy," Jack said, putting his hand on Teal'c's shoulder. "She's speechless."

"Thank you, Teal'c," Carter recovered. It wasn't Teal'c's fault that advertisers were brainwashing men into thinking that women only cared about jewelry and cars this time of year. At least he hadn't bought her a car.

"Who's next?" Jack asked, keeping the game going and pulling the awkward attention away from Carter.

"I am," Daniel waved his crumpled paper.

Carter smiled, put the necklace away and picked up a box from under the tree. "Merry Christmas," she told Daniel.

"Thanks, Sam," he smiled at her taking the gift.

"If you're one of those wrapping paper savers…" Jack warned before Daniel could even start opening his gift.

Daniel shot Jack a look and pointedly ripped the paper down the center of the box.

"It's nothing fancy," Carter admitted. "I just thought you'd like it."

Daniel opened the box and pushed away the tissue paper. He removed an oatmeal colored v-neck sweater.

"I do, thanks, Sam."

"It should be the right size- I snuck a peak in your closet last time I was over," she confessed.

"Note to self, Carter buys practical gifts," Jack said with a smirk.

"It's really nice, Sam," Daniel countered. "And I think Teal'c is next."

"That he is," Jack agreed. He got up from his chair and picked up a box with an extravagant red bow on top and handed into Teal'c. "Merry Christmas, T."

Teal'c nodded his head in thanks and followed Daniel's example, ripping the paper off without regard.

"Every Earth guy needs a football," Jack said deadpan. "Tossing around the old pig skin is a time-honored tradition here… and so-help-me-Daniel-If-you-say-one-word-about-soccer-you-will-regret-it," he put a finger in his friend's face before he could argue the popularity of the American sport verses what the rest of the planet seemed to like.

"I wasn't," Daniel insisted, trying on his new sweater over his shirt. "I was actually thinking of baseball."

"Do you know the difference between baseball and football?" Jack asked.

"One's a rip off of cricket and the other is rugby?"

"You say things like that just to make me mad, don't you?"

"Sometimes."

"Anyway, Teal'c," Jack turned back to his not-annoying friend. "I'll teach you how to throw and catch. You can come watch the game with the guys. It'll be a whole new Earth experience for you."

"This sounds most enjoyable O'Neill. You have my gratitude for the kind gesture and I look forward to learning the game of football."

"I guess that just leaves you, Jack," Daniel said, retrieving the last gift from under the tree. "Merry Christmas."

Jack took the bag and reached in under the tissue paper. He pulled out a framed picture of himself and Charlie, smiling holding their fishing poles in one hand and their day's catch in the other. Charlie was grinning from ear to ear, missing a couple teeth on the bottom. Their noses were sunburned, and they were laughing at something. Jack could remember the day this had been taken. It was the summer before the accident. Jack had taken Charlie out in a little row boat with a cooler and a few sandwiches. They spend the entire day on the water talking about whatever came to Charlie's mind. They had caught enough fish for dinner that night cooking it over a campfire- the way Pop had taught Jack when he had been even younger than Charlie. The last time Jack had seen this picture it had been in a shoe box in the basement. Now it was in a nice frame with a brace plaque at the bottom engraved "Fishing with Dad: Charlie and Jack."

"Where did you get this?" Jack asked.

"You're really bad about locking your door," Daniel admitted, hesitantly. "I saw it in your basement when I came over after Thanksgiving. I went back and found it after I drew your name. I thought you'd like to have it up here." He smiled hesitantly unable to read Jack's face.

Jack didn't respond or look up from the framed photo. He ran his fingers over the engraving. "Thanks, Danny."

No one said anything for a moment, recognizing that Jack needed a few minutes.

"What do you say we go out and get a few lessons in," Jack said, putting the photo on the mantle. "Grab your ball, Teal'c, we'll break it in."

Daniel, having been woken up last, went to clean up and get dressed while everyone else grabbed their coats and put on their boots. They trekked into the front yard, Carter on one side and Teal'c and Jack standing together on the other. Jack coached Teal'c on how to hold the ball and how to aim. Under Jack's watchful eye, Teal'c threw the ball across the yard to Carter who caught the sloppy first pass.

"Good, good," Jack encouraged him. "Now you see how she caught that?" he went on to explain the mechanics of catching the ball properly. "Okay, Carter, throw it back!"

Daniel came out in time to see Teal'c fumble his first catch. He didn't say anything, but stood back, leaning against the corner of the house. He watched Jack throw the ball to Carter, talking Teal'c through it the entire time. And then talking him through the catch, miming cradling the ball as he caught it. Cater threw the ball back and Jack caught it, just as he had shown Teal'c how to do it.

"Danny, you want in on this?" Jack called when he noticed their fourth standing against the wall.

"I'm good," Daniel waved him off.

"C'mon, we'll teach you, too," Carter tried to be encouraging.

"I don't need to be taught," he insisted. "I'm just not all that interested. I'll watch."

"Colonel Jack!" the neighbor kid came running out of his house, ending the encouragement. "It worked! Santa ate the cookies and gave the carrots to the reindeer," he gushed. "And I got a Nintendo!"

"I told you that if you left a note apologizing for biting your sister, Santa might reconsider having you on the naughty list," Jack told him, squatting down so they were eye to eye. "The trick is, you have to really mean it when you say you're sorry."

"Are you playing football?" the boy asked, looking at the gathering of adults in the yard.

"Just catch," Jack told him. "Toby, these are my friends. This is Captain Carter, Dr. Jackson and… Mr. T. Guys, this is Toby."

The boy smiled as everyone said hi to him. Before they knew it, other kids from up and down the street were coming over one by one to announce what they had gotten for Christmas and compare notes on what Santa had done in their house the night before. Even the older kids, who knew better, were nice and let the little kids keep believing that Santa had brought them their toys following Colonel Jack's lead as he indulged the little one's stories.

Before anyone really knew what was happening, or how it happened, they found themselves organizing a game of touch football: SG-1 and the smallest kids versus the bigger kids and a couple teenage siblings. As team Santa separated from team Rudolf to strategize, Jack took Teal'c aside.

"Here on Earth, when adults play games against little kids, we let the kids win. This isn't a real competition, it's just for fun."

"Will they not know that we are intending to deceive them?"

"No. They fall for it every time."

"Do all Earth children fall for this deception?"

"Yes. Yes, they do. And then they grow up and do it for their kids."

"As when we are in battle, I will follow your lead, O'Neill."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Teal'c jogged the length of the yard with a small girl in his arms. She was carrying the football and he made sure to hold her high enough that the kids chasing him couldn't tag her out. When they made it to the tree that had been designated the "end zone" a teenager made a dramatic half-hearted attempt to tag the little girl missing wildly and falling into the snow. The little girl giggled as Teal'c put her down to score the touchdown.

"Spike it!" Jack called to the girl who threw the ball down and giggled some more.

Carter and Daniel cheered on their tiny teammate as she did a touch down dance.

"Okay guys, final point," Jack told them as the teams lined up at the walkway leading up to his door- the path serving as the 50-yard line. "Winner takes all."

Team Rudolf had the ball. Their young quarterback tossed the ball to Daniel (team Santa) on accident. Daniel caught the ball and promptly pretended to fumble it, so the intended receiver could pick it up and run. Carter moved to block the kid's path to the bushes that marked their goal line. She allowed the boy to fake her out and run to her left while she lunged to her right. Teal'c was the final barrier between Team Rudolf and victory.

"Get him, T!" Jack called, signaling him to move out of the way.

Before Teal'c could decide on a plan of action to take a dive the little boy dove between his legs and wiggled past him.

"Touch Down!" Toby yelled jumping up and down as his teammate spiked the ball. "Team Rudolf wins!"

His teammates joined in the celebration.

"Good job, guys," Jack congratulated them. "You did great, baby," he picked up his littlest teammate. "You were the best player on the team."

"I got a touchdown!" the little girl said proudly.

"You sure did, kiddo." Jack put her down. "You, too, sport," he said to the little boy that had been playing with SG-1 on team Santa. "You did a great job." The little boy smiled proudly. Jack gave him a high-five.

"Alright, everyone," Jack addressed the group. "I think it's time for us to head inside. You keep having fun."

"Bye Colonel Jack!" the kids coursed. SG-1 trooped back inside, winded, a bit sore from their game and definitely cold.

"Everything hurts," Jack said, falling into his chair.

"I enjoy football," Teal'c said, approvingly.

"I haven't played touch football in years," Sam added.

"I want coffee," Daniel said disappearing into the kitchen.

By the time he was done brewing coffee and returned to the living room Jack and Sam were sacked out and Teal'c was sitting pleasantly on the couch, watching the fire.

"How's your first Christmas going?" Daniel asked.

"I find this holiday enjoyable," Teal'c said. "But, the family traditions we have practiced do not match those I observed on television."

"Earth is a big place," Daniel shrugged. "Each family has their own traditions even if it is for the same holiday. For example, Sam, Jack and I all grew up celebrating Christmas, having a Christmas tree, getting presents, but all our families did it differently. And Jack celebrated differently with Sarah and Charlie than he did when he was a kid. Traditions are individualized and can change over time depending on circumstances and lots of other variables."

"If they continually change then they are not traditions, Daniel Jackson."

"Traditions don't have to be immutable," Daniel argued. "They always change over time. Given circumstances and population, the tradition of any culture will evolve as the culture does. The more people who celebrate a given event the more variations of the celebration you get."

"On Chulak the rituals remain unchanged through the passing of many generations. The rites are sacred and must be honored in their original intended form."

"There is an argument to be made for that," Daniel allowed. "But rigid adherence to the ritual without a full understanding of the meaning behind the rituals and prevent growth within the culture."

"Are you saying Chulak is without growth?"

"I'm saying that if Bratak hadn't questioned the meaning behind the rituals you'd still be the First Prime of Apophis without realizing what the Goa'uld were doing to your people."

Teal'c thought about it. "Do the Tau'ri question the meaning behind the rituals of Christmas?"

"Oh, yeah. For some, like the people I grew up with there was very strong religious connotations- which is how it started. And for others, like us today, it's just a day set aside to hang out with friends and family."

"Does this holiday celebrate a false god?"

"No," Daniel said quickly. "And as far as I can tell it doesn't celebrate a Goa'uld. Trust me, I considered it. At least, so far, all the major religions aren't sending up any red flags."

"Is it even possible to be bored awake?" Jack groaned, rubbing his face.

"Would you rather watch football?" Daniel asked indulgently.

"Will you complain the entire time?"

"I have a book."

"Let's watch football."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Carter woke up at half time. Jack was explaining the rules and plays to Teal'c and Daniel was engrossed in his book. By the end of the third quarter, stomachs were rumbling. Daniel had disappeared at some point and was in the kitchen making garlic rolls. No one had noticed he left until he reappeared with flour on his shirt.

"Sam, when do you want to do the fish?"

"Game's over in twenty minutes," she waved him off.

"So…."

"I'll be there when the game is over," she told him.

He disappeared again and went back to prepping the sauce. When the game was over, Sam- true to her word- showed up to do her part in making dinner. Between the two of them, they put together a dinner of fish, pasta, salad, and freshly baked garlic rolls.

Sam had braved the market the night before on her way to the colonel's to get the produce for the salad and a fresh block of parmesan. Daniel had bought the fresh pasta from the market along with the imported capers and wine.

The kitchen smelled like an Italian bistro as they assembled dinner. They made Jack and Teal'c set the table. After managing to time things out almost perfectly, Sam plated her salmon steaks and Daniel tossed the pasta in his sauce. A few quick shaves of parmesan and everything was ready to go.

"You two are something else," Jack commented looking at the spread on the table.

"I think the secret's out," Sam said. "We can all cook when we want to."

"We're just too lazy to do it," Jack finished.

"No wonder Michelle only made this once a year. Lemon juice finds every papercut you got," Daniel agreed. "My hands are still burning."

Before he sat, Jack poured the wine (and tea for Teal'c).

"I propose a toast," he held up his glass and everyone followed his lead. "To new traditions."

"New traditions," the chorused.

After dinner, deliciously filling and carbo loaded, Jack kicked everyone out. Despite numerous attempts to help clean up the kitchen, Jack got everyone out the door. He switched the music off Christmas and onto his favorite arias. It took him nearly the entire CD to clean up the mess that Carter and Daniel had made in his kitchen. The two had managed to use every dish in the house and somehow a steak knife had shallots on it.

With a cold beer in his dishpan hands, Jack went out into his living and sat in his favorite chair. The Christmas tree lights were on and it cast a soft glow across the otherwise darkened room. He looked at the mantel and reached for the photo Daniel had gotten framed for him. Charlie looked so happy in that photo. They both did. Charlie had Sarah's eyes and hair, but he had Jack's grin. He had been a good kid.

A great kid.

The best.

It was taking time, but slowly Jack's memories of his son were making him happy instead of sad. There were moments, like that afternoon with the stocking that it hit him hard out of left field. But when he was ready for it, when he had a chance to prepare, the flood of emotion was a good one. And it made him feel good. He would always miss Charlie, but maybe next year he'd be ready to remember him.


End file.
